Welcoming many of the steps outlined by Chancellor Rishi Sunak in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, MPA chief executive Nigel Jackson focused on extending the deferment of VAT to employers' National Insurance, Corporation Tax and Business Rates.
In the letter sent on Tuesday, 24 March, 2020, Jackson wrote: “What business needs now are fast and simple solutions that enable them to keep cash in their businesses and their employees in their jobs.
“The deferment of VAT is a simple and effective measure and welcome. Further concessions of this nature would increase the resilience of companies and I once again urge you to take further steps by deferring employers’ National Insurance contributions, Corporation Tax and Business Rates over the next 3 months. This would be the best way to retain jobs and sustain companies in these exceptional times whilst we all evaluate the potential impact of the virus on enterprise.
"As the largest supplier of any material in the UK economy, at 1 million tonnes per day of essential mineral products, the impacts of Covid-19 will be all the greater on an industry where the fixed costs are very high. Once the recovery starts the pent-up demand will be immense, and unless we have protected the capacity and capability of the sector it will inhibit our return to healthy economic growth.”
